Vice And Virtue Quotes by Moliere, James Madison, Daniel Webster, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Algernon Sidney, Robin Skelton and many others.
Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue.
To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.
A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.
Remember, the prince is like a mirror exposed to the eyes of all his subjects who continually look to him as a pattern on which to model themselves, and who in consequence without much trouble discover his vices and virtues.
[I]f vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established.
A vice is merely a pleasure to which somebody has objected.
Heaven and hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad. But the greatest part of mankind float betwixt vice and virtue.
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.
I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.
Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.
Vice is its own reward.
It is convention and arbitrary rewards which make all the merit and demerit of what we call vice and virtue.
Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it.
Every vice has its excuse ready.
What’s vice today may be virtue, tomorrow.
To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.
